Those Pesky Solar Flares (40k)

[Mith]

Alright, solar flares have been a rather keen part of Trek and 40k debates. We're all aware of the BFG quote in regards to solar flares, but Captain Orsis mentioned one strange solar flare that extended beyond the range of what a solar flare is capable of:

Wrong. There is only one actual example of an Imperium starship being damaged by solar phenomena, which is at best bizarre; from Salamander, a "solar storm" damaging the strike cruiser Vulkan's Wrath. The reason I call it unusual, is because Vulkan's Wrath (having just emerged from the Warp) is umpteen million miles away from the Scoria system's star, and still getting hit by shockwaves shaking it "like a skiff upon a violent ocean" (pg. 181) and light intense enough to instantly inflict massive third-degree burns on any crewserfs standing in it and noticeably heat Mk. VII power armour.

This isn't actually a case of an author being an idiot (well, maybe...), but rather based on an actual phenomenon of our sun called coronal mass ejections:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronal_mass_ejections

Coronal mass ejections release huge quantities of matter and electromagnetic radiation into space above the sun's surface, either near the corona or farther into the planet system or beyond (interplanetary CME). The ejected material is a plasma consisting primarily of electrons and protons, but may contain small quantities of heavier elements such as helium, oxygen, and even iron. It is associated with enormous changes and disturbances in the coronal magnetic field.

Basically, it's a large burst of solar wind. It basically crosses the distance between Sol and Earth in three days (150 million km, 2.08 million km a second). So basically, what captain was refering to wasn't some sort of uber phenomenon, but rather something that is rather common as far as stars go.

So, any idea what that would calculate into? I'm afraid I'm not familiar enough to know what sort of effects that would have.

[User1356]

Why are you still clinging to a game mechanic, contradicted more than once in the novels.

It like me insisting that the Ent-Ds shields max out at 800GW

[Mr. Oragahn]

Why are you still clinging to a game mechanic, contradicted more than once in the novels.

It like me insisting that the Ent-Ds shields max out at 800GW

It's part of the fluff around said rules, not only the rules, and according to Games Workshop, all is canon, isn't it?

Mith,

1. do you have more details about this event?
2. did you receive any of the PMs I sent you? No urgency in replying, but just tell me if it worked.

[Mith]

Why are you still clinging to a game mechanic, contradicted more than once in the novels.

It like me insisting that the Ent-Ds shields max out at 800GW

No it hasn't. The Rogue Trader ship--to which I believe you refer to, was hiding in a star's corona or photosphere. That doesn't mean he's going to get hit by a solar flare. The surface of a star is massive. Even with six hours, it's unlikely he'd get hit if he was smart or just not unlucky.

@Oragahn

1) Not much more, sadly. Perhaps I can look for the source, but it may be difficult. However, it's the only solar phenomenon that could do something like that.

2) Which account?

[Kor_Dahar_Master]

Here is stuff about the necrons and solar flares ect:

“Abruptly the snaking beam of liquid light from the star faded and vanished from sight, the silver ship having had its fill for the moment. Ponderously it began to rotate and dropped slowly through the planet’s atmosphere. Fiery coronas flared from the leading edges of the crescent wings as it descended towards a vast, iron-oxide desert in the northern hemisphere. The surface of the planet sped by below: rugged mountains, grinding tectonic plates and ash-spewing volcanoes. The ship began slowing as it neared its destination, a sandy dust bowl with a tiny spot of absolute darkness at its centre.

The ship’s speed continued to drop as the shape resolved itself into a glassy black pyramid, its peak capped in gold. Its shimmering obsidian walls, smoky and reflective, were impervious to the howling winds that scoured the planet bare. Small, scuttling creatures that glittered in the burning sun crawled across its surface with a chittering mechanical gait. Runes identical to those on the orbiting starship hummed as powerful receptors activated.

The ship manoeuvred itself gracefully into position above the pyramid as the gold cap began to open like the petals of a flower. The humming rose to an ear-splitting shriek as the smaller pyramids and obelisks on the ship’s underside exploded with energy, and a rippling column of pure electromagnetic force shot straight down the black pyramid’s hungry maw.

Incandescent white light blazed from the pyramid, instantly incinerating the mechanical creatures that crawled across its surface. The desert it stood upon flared gold, streaks of power radiating outwards from the pyramid’s base in snaking lines and vitrifying the sand in complex geometric patterns. The enormous vessel held its position until the last of its stolen energy had been transferred. Once the gold cap of the pyramid had sealed itself shut, the ship made the long trip back into orbit to repeat the process, its intention to continue ripping energy from the star until it was nothing more than a cooling ball of inert gasses.

The vessel settled into position before the star, the arcane device mounted upon its hull powering up once more.” – Nightbringer, Pg. 1-2

[Mr. Oragahn]

Why are you still clinging to a game mechanic, contradicted more than once in the novels.

It like me insisting that the Ent-Ds shields max out at 800GW

No it hasn't. The Rogue Trader ship--to which I believe you refer to, was hiding in a star's corona or photosphere. That doesn't mean he's going to get hit by a solar flare. The surface of a star is massive. Even with six hours, it's unlikely he'd get hit if he was smart or just not unlucky.

@Oragahn

1) Not much more, sadly. Perhaps I can look for the source, but it may be difficult. However, it's the only solar phenomenon that could do something like that.

2) Which account?

1. Ah blast.
2. Here mate. Your SBC box is stuffed dead. Now these PMs may be a bit old, but please just tell me if you got them.

Here is stuff about the necrons and solar flares ect:

“Abruptly the snaking beam of liquid light from the star faded and vanished from sight, the silver ship having had its fill for the moment. Ponderously it began to rotate and dropped slowly through the planet’s atmosphere. Fiery coronas flared from the leading edges of the crescent wings as it descended towards a vast, iron-oxide desert in the northern hemisphere. The surface of the planet sped by below: rugged mountains, grinding tectonic plates and ash-spewing volcanoes. The ship began slowing as it neared its destination, a sandy dust bowl with a tiny spot of absolute darkness at its centre.

The ship’s speed continued to drop as the shape resolved itself into a glassy black pyramid, its peak capped in gold. Its shimmering obsidian walls, smoky and reflective, were impervious to the howling winds that scoured the planet bare. Small, scuttling creatures that glittered in the burning sun crawled across its surface with a chittering mechanical gait. Runes identical to those on the orbiting starship hummed as powerful receptors activated.

The ship manoeuvred itself gracefully into position above the pyramid as the gold cap began to open like the petals of a flower. The humming rose to an ear-splitting shriek as the smaller pyramids and obelisks on the ship’s underside exploded with energy, and a rippling column of pure electromagnetic force shot straight down the black pyramid’s hungry maw.

Incandescent white light blazed from the pyramid, instantly incinerating the mechanical creatures that crawled across its surface. The desert it stood upon flared gold, streaks of power radiating outwards from the pyramid’s base in snaking lines and vitrifying the sand in complex geometric patterns. The enormous vessel held its position until the last of its stolen energy had been transferred. Once the gold cap of the pyramid had sealed itself shut, the ship made the long trip back into orbit to repeat the process, its intention to continue ripping energy from the star until it was nothing more than a cooling ball of inert gasses.

The vessel settled into position before the star, the arcane device mounted upon its hull powering up once more.” – Nightbringer, Pg. 1-2

Ah, I suppose that's part of the "I d'vour stuurz" mystique?
Mmm... just how long can this take? Surprisingly, they don't bother taping the huge and obvious geothermal power just below them, or even all around them considering the "rugged mountains, grinding tectonic plates and ash-spewing volcanoes".

[Mith]

1. Ah blast.

You're telling me. =(

2. Here mate. Your SBC box is stuffed dead. Now these PMs may be a bit old, but please just tell me if you got them.

*cough* I cleaned it out a couple days ago. Checking and yes, I do seem to have gotten them.

I here and there develop this problem of checking (or sometimes) replying to pms. Just ask Aratech.

Ah, I suppose that's part of the "I d'vour stuurz" mystique?
Mmm... just how long can this take? Surprisingly, they don't bother taping the huge and obvious geothermal power just below them, or even all around them considering the "rugged mountains, grinding tectonic plates and ash-spewing volcanoes".

That's one of I think, three quotes of them doing something like that, though I don't recall it being to that degree. Still, it seems like it's an established ability. It was suggested by someone on factpile that the energy the Necrons take in is shunted off into a pocket dimension of sort (similar to a ZPM). It makes some sense, given that they do seem to have some reality warping abilities.

What confuses me is how much energy can they take in at once? If it'd be teratons, then the Necrons wouldn't even come close to be destroyed by Imperium ships.

[Mr. Oragahn]

2. Here mate. Your SBC box is stuffed dead. Now these PMs may be a bit old, but please just tell me if you got them.

*cough* I cleaned it out a couple days ago. Checking and yes, I do seem to have gotten them.

Seem?

I here and there develop this problem of checking (or sometimes) replying to pms. Just ask Aratech.

I know I sent you one titled something like XXXXXX recently, but there are a few older ones.

That's one of I think, three quotes of them doing something like that, though I don't recall it being to that degree. Still, it seems like it's an established ability. It was suggested by someone on factpile that the energy the Necrons take in is shunted off into a pocket dimension of sort (similar to a ZPM). It makes some sense, given that they do seem to have some reality warping abilities.

What confuses me is how much energy can they take in at once? If it'd be teratons, then the Necrons wouldn't even come close to be destroyed by Imperium ships.

We can start with basic facts. They seem to have stars become more or less unstable to some extent. They have them produce flares. It seems that said flares can then be thinned out into filaments directed at some small structures on Necron ships. Then energy is absorbed and carried inside the ship for later use.
We'll just have to accept that they can cheat physics in that they can make stars unstable, yet need to feed from the already hot plasma. We'll have to ponder how they managed to force the plasma into such thin streams and yet keep a net gain on the energy they suck.

Whatever happens, the stars clearly don't blink out of existence for the whole charging process. The flares can only represent a small fraction of the stars' current power.
It was just meant to be über cool, but from the scientific standpoint, it looks quite absurd and wasteful. If you can do all that to a star, why is it that they cannot produce said power themselves?

If you check out the other thread, there's that reference about the red star I gave you in more details. It's more or less the same affair: a Necron ship (of the class with the long tail and the bow horizontal crescent) fly towards the star, then does his flare thing, and sends the juice at an Eldar cruiser that's completely disabled.

There's nothing really quantifiable, and if anything, the red star incident can only lead to the usual high numbers by relying on all possible high end interpretations and parameters.